Newsroom
August 12, 2013
Reid not OK with ending Fannie, Freddie
Aug. 13, 2013 – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., doesn't agree with the president's policy statements last week about winding down mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
In a recent radio interview with Nevada Public Radio, the Senate leader said, "The president just a few days ago said we're going to have to take a look at Fannie and Freddie, these are the government organizations that have made homeownership so easy. I don't agree with the president. He says he wants to get rid of them. I think we better [be] very, very careful doing that. And I'm going to look closely at his recommendations because on their face, I don't like them."
Reid's comments help set the stage for a potentially contentious debate this fall on housing finance reform efforts. Many aspects of reform outlined by the president are found in S. 1217, the "Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act," introduced by Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Mark Warner, D-Va., earlier this summer. The House has separate housing finance reform legislation, H.R. 2767, the "Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners (PATH) Act," introduced by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J.
NAFCU has and will continue to work with Congress and the White House to ensure credit unions have unfettered access to the secondary mortgage market and attain fair pricing based on the high quality of their loans.
Next month, credit unions will be able to air their concerns directly with lawmakers about housing finance reform and other key credit union issues including regulatory relief and preservation of the credit union tax exemption during NAFCU's Congressional Caucus in Washington, Sept. 8-11.
In a recent radio interview with Nevada Public Radio, the Senate leader said, "The president just a few days ago said we're going to have to take a look at Fannie and Freddie, these are the government organizations that have made homeownership so easy. I don't agree with the president. He says he wants to get rid of them. I think we better [be] very, very careful doing that. And I'm going to look closely at his recommendations because on their face, I don't like them."
Reid's comments help set the stage for a potentially contentious debate this fall on housing finance reform efforts. Many aspects of reform outlined by the president are found in S. 1217, the "Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act," introduced by Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Mark Warner, D-Va., earlier this summer. The House has separate housing finance reform legislation, H.R. 2767, the "Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners (PATH) Act," introduced by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J.
NAFCU has and will continue to work with Congress and the White House to ensure credit unions have unfettered access to the secondary mortgage market and attain fair pricing based on the high quality of their loans.
Next month, credit unions will be able to air their concerns directly with lawmakers about housing finance reform and other key credit union issues including regulatory relief and preservation of the credit union tax exemption during NAFCU's Congressional Caucus in Washington, Sept. 8-11.
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